Pig Goat Banana Cricket Review/Transcript
Banana: 'Now c'mon! Let's go people! Hup two three, s...well, whatever comes after three! ''(Intro) 'Banana: '*gagging* Turn it off! Turn it off! '''Announcer: ''Pig Goat Banana Cricket is up next! Nicktoons! So, this is one of those shows that a lot of people asked me to review way back when, and I never really got around to doing it. Before I had tackled my backlog, this show had more or less disappeared, and it was almost completely forgotten about. And, I'm kinda glad that I didn't review it back then because, I probably would have been too harsh on...''Pig...Goat...Banana Cricket...which, yes, is probably the worst title of the whole lineup. I mean, I did watch one episode of this show back then and I gave my thoughts on it. Uh, I did not have good things to say about it at the time. I called every single character a ripoff of a Spongebob ''character, the plots were basically random events, and the art style was ugly and full of toilet humor. Like...a ''Sanjay and Craig ''or something. And I have to say that my old opinions don't really hold up here, and that's one thing that should be understood during this marathon. In my past when I thought that nobody was watching my stuff or...I didn't ''respect the people who were watching my stuff, I did have some bad habits. I'd often review shows taking a look at very few episodes or rely on memories, and say things that don't really hold up. The ones who have been with me for a long time might have noticed that at one point I said that El Tigre ''was a really good show, but if you've been following along this marathon, you know that I no longer hold that opinion, if I ever even really did. Not to mention my influences at the time...probably weren't the best in terms of giving ''actually valuable criticism, but that's not really relevant here. I'm here to give these shows an actual fair day in court. And to be honest, my original reaction was overblown. And like, none of my complaints towards this show actually make...any sense. I mean...some of them do...but it's clear that I was over-exaggerating or complaining just to complain. Let's start with the art style. I called this show ugly. It's definitely unorthodox, but the art style of Pig...Goat Banana Cricket ''is clearly one of its best aspects. It looks unique for starters. You wouldn't confuse this for any other Nicktoon, or, any other cartoon in general. But beyond that, it can actually kinda be a visual delight. It seems to pull a lot of influence from Dr. Seuss, and it gives this show its own unique identity that I can't help but admire a bit. If there is something that ''is ''ugly, I would have to say that the color palette looks a little too much like...the inside of a nose. I'm definitely not gonna say that this show looks the best out of any Nicktoon, at this point we both know that that's not true. But I do have to say, I love how ''enveloped ''this show is in its own style. It's not a ''jarring type of style either like The Problem Solverz. It's very good at stylization, and I think that's something that really has to be appreciated here. I like how this show looks. Unfortunately, most of my other complaints were a little bit'' more on the mark. Like with the characters. While saying that they're ripoffs of ''Spongebob's characters...is a little bit harsh, these characters are rather typical, and stereotypical. There's not much to them to be honest. We have Pig, who is overoptimistic, a glutton, and stupid. He feels a little bit like a fusion of Spongebob and Patrick. Then there's Banana. Banana is one of those smooth talkers, always running a scam, lazy, and try and get out of work. It's the Captain K'nuckles archetype. Once again, there's nothing really new here besides him being a banana. But that's not really utilized like, at all, he just happens to be a banana. Cricket is in the same vein really. I mean, first of all, this is not a cricket. Crickets are brown. He was originally supposed to be a mantis, but I guess they didn't want to confuse him with Mantis from Kung Fu Panda. But even still, he doesn't look like a mantis either, he looks like a grasshopper. Once again, crickets are brown, not green. Anyway, he's a scientist. His inventions often cause problems. Either...because he's a cartoon scientist, or because other characters screw it up. And he most often makes these inventions for Goat, and Goat is the worst character out of all four of them. She is the token girl. And quite honestly, I thought that we were done with token girls at the turn of the century. But nope, a tale as old as time brought back into the middle of the 2010s decade. I mean...she's not the worst I've ever seen, but there's no way you could describe her personality other than "the girl." Why are these characters living together? Never really explained as far as I can tell! It's just four random character types stuck in a house together. Kinda like the title. Which once again, which yes, is the worst title of all the Nicktoons. Probably the worst cartoon title that I've ever heard. Although...it does have one aspect going for it, and that's because the title is actually really fitting towards the show as a whole. The title is four random words mashed together without any real connection. And that's kinda how the stories are! In one episode, they want to make "fudge bubbles." Cricket makes them to impress Goat. That's one story. Then Pig tries to steal them. Chaos ensues and they release a giant fudge bubble over the city. That's another story. It explodes and plunges the entire world into a fudge ocean...so everyone gets on Goat's ark. That's a third story. Then they mutiny and all four of our characters are lost at sea. Banana eventually gets captured by pirates, and they all make their way to an island in the fudge ocean, where a tribe throws them into a volcano, and they all escape the lava flow on a treasure chest. Four stories, one episode, all under the same title. It really can be described as a random events plot. It's probably the most...accurate depiction of a random events plot. Things happen and sometimes they flow to the next point. But most of the time it feels like writers are making things up as they go along. Some people like this type of storytelling...uh, it's not the only show to employ this, but I am not really a fan, and I think most people aren't. I prefer a lot more coherence. I can't really get invested if I don't know what's going to happen on any level. Actually, that's probably not the best way to word that. I need to know the stakes. I need to know that a random thing can't pop out of someone's ass and save the day, for me to really care about the story of the show, and, you never get that feeling here. Like, there is nothing stopping a Deus ex Machina from...solving any problem the characters have. And in terms of humor, well...it uses a bit too much grossout for my tastes. The best kind of humor comes from the characters, and I don't think these personalities are strong enough to really ''pull their own here...in terms of comedy. I was able to watch this show without any issue, but I don't think that I ever laughed once. It was at times hard to be invested. I mostly had the experience of "What am I even watching?". But at the end of the day, it's...not that bad? I might even give this one like a six out of ten, where five out of ten is completely average, but that's because of the art style alone. And don't get me wrong, this isn't like, one of the most "beautiful" shows in the world. But, it is memorable, and I do respect that on some level. Unlike Nickelodeon. Oh boy, "respect" and "this show." Those two words do not go together in Nickelodeon's mouth. I get that the show didn't have the greatest reaction when it first aired, but after, only a few episodes, they made it their mission to kill it. After a few episodes, they threw it on a Friday night time slot, where it got beaten by Disney. And then they started giving it random hiatuses. And then, off to the Nicktoons Network for you, to '''die'. Nicktoons Network: it's seen more things headed to death than Charon, the ferryman on the river sticks, and no I'm not exaggerating. 'Announcer: '''Next on Nickelodeon... ''(Shows intro for Harvey Beaks) (End Credits Theme: "Spongebob Squarepants SpongeMix" by Pogo) Category:Nick-o-Rama Category:Transcripts